The Conversion of Tyre, Sidon, and the Nations
Knowledge will be increasing. In this way, Habakkuk, being seized by a divine catch, has seen a divine seizure; for it is written concerning him, 'Habakkuk the prophet saw a divine catch.' And here, therefore, regarding such a theophoric state, a catch of the word of the Lord is announced.
What is this catch of the word, and about whom does he intend to speak? In the land, he says, of Shadrach, and Damascus and Hamath, in the borders of Damascus, it happens, while God is watching the men and the tribes of Israel. Blessed indeed is the one seen by God, according to: 'The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous' (Ps 34:15), and he who asks to find this is speaking well: 'Look upon me and have mercy on me.'
Test whether the land of Shadrach is able to show the increasing of the old people, those having believed, saying: 'Learn from me that I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls' (Mt 11:29). And Damascus alludes to those called away from idols; for much dread is practiced by the Damascenes.
Therefore, also, having the opposite of those finding rest for their souls by the Savior being previously gentle and humble in heart, they are swearing oaths and being awakened, killing against the neighbors. Therefore, they are called 'blood-drinkers' in the voice of the Greeks and 'blood-sacks,' being found full of murder, as being men watched over by the Lord Almighty, those having come from the nations through faith, among whom the latter are those from the tribes of Israel.
All those mentioned, being wild before the divine calling, were happening in the borders of the land of the Damascenes, which Jesus, while still being a child, foretold, taking 'the dogs of Samaria and the power of Damascus against the king of the Assyrians' (Zech 9:9). See if this victory of the infant, not yet having the age to 'call father or mother,' alludes to the calling of the Magi from the east, having come from the east to Jerusalem to worship the one born there as king, being led by a star appearing to them, as the Gospel according to Matthew declares.
Tyre and Sidon, because they thought very much. And Tyre built fortifications for itself and stored silver like dust and gathered...
A small thing like the mud of the roads. For this reason the Lord will inherit it and tread its power into the sea, and this shall be consumed in fire.
Through the names set forth, the calling of all the nations is signified. For indeed all idolaters happen to be Tyrians and Sidonians. For that which is said in one of the Psalms, 'The daughters of Tyre shall worship him with gifts,' signifies the calling of the return of the nations who are 'having no hope and being atheists in the world.' According to the same sense, one must also interpret that which has in another song thus: 'Glory has been spoken of you, O city of God, and behold, foreigners, and Tyre, and the people of Ethiopians, these became there.' For then indeed they become in the city glorified by God, when the foreigners, the Tyrians, and the people of Ethiopians turn back from whence they had impiety and superstition, in order that they might become partakers of and an inheritance of God, having departed from the foreign wandering and the Tyrian and Ethiopian idolatry.
One should attempt to take along with the things set forth and those in the Gospel having this: 'Woe to you, Chorazin, woe to you, Bethsaida; for if in Tyre and Sidon the powers had happened, long ago in sackcloth and ashes they would have repented' (Matt 11:21). For of the tremendous powers of Jesus having been accomplished, the citizens of Chorazin and Bethsaida, being Jews, did not repent; the Tyrians and Sidonians would have repented if they had happened among them; except if even then they did not see the extraordinary powers of Jesus, but later sometime having seen them, having believed in the one who accomplished them, they have come to repentance.
The calling which is expected of them is also made clear by the prophecy set forth having this: 'Tyre and Sidon because they thought exceedingly,' boasting as if 'to build strongholds' which it seemed they would be unshakeable; but sophistical and contentious words these are, on which, thinking greatly, the author took it to be that they were inaccessible and unassailable. Concerning such strongholds being striven for by the heterodox, as they shall be overthrown by those warring under God, the Apostle writes: 'The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but powerful in God, for the overthrowing of strongholds, destroying arguments, and every exaltation being raised up against the knowledge of God' (2 Cor 10:4). For not
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ἐσομένων γνῶσιν· τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ ὁ Ἁμβακοὺμ κατεχόμενος λῆμμα θεῖον τεθέαται· γέγραπται γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ· «Λῆμμα Κυρίου εἶδεν Ἁμβακοὺμ ὁ προφήτης.» Καὶ ἐνταῦθα τοίνυν περὶ τῆς οὕτω θεοφορίας λῆμμα λόγου Κυρίου ἀπήγγελται. 3.76 Τί δὲ τὸ λῆμμα τοῦ λόγου καὶ περὶ τίνων βούλεται λέγειν; 3.77 Ἐν τῇ γῇ, φησίν, τοῦ Σεδρὰκ καὶ ∆αμασκοῦ καὶ Ἡμὰθ ἐν τοῖς ὁρίοις ∆αμασκοῦ γίνεται, ἐφορῶντος Θεοῦ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ τὰς τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ φυλάς. Μακάριον δ' ἐστὶν τὸ ὑπὸ Θεοῦ ὁρᾶσθαι, κατὰ τό· «Ὀφθαλμοὶ Κυρίου ἐπὶ δικαίους», καὶ τὸν εὐχόμενον τούτου τυχεῖν φάσκοντα εὐκτικῶς· «Ἐπίβλεψον ἐπ' ἐμὲ καὶ ἐλέησόν με.» 3.78 Ἐπίστησον εἰ δύναται ἡ γῆ τοῦ Σεδρὰκ τὴν τοῦ παλαιοῦ λαοῦ δεικνύναι πληθύν, πεπιστευκότων εἰς τὸν Σωτῆρα λέγοντα· «Μάθετε ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ὅτι πραΰς εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ εὑρήσετε ἀνάπαυσιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν.» Ὁ δὲ ∆αμασκὸς αἰνίττεται τοὺς ἀπὸ εἰδώλων κεκλημένους· πολλὴ γὰρ δεισιδαιμονία σπουδάζεται τοῖς ∆αμασκηνοῖς. 3.79 ∆ιὸ καὶ ἀπεναντίως ἔχοντες τοῖς εὑροῦσιν ἀνάπαυσιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς αὐτῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ Σωτῆρος πρᾴου καὶ ταπεινοῦ ὄντος τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὠμόθυμοι καὶ ἐξηγριωμένοι, φονῶντες κατὰ τῶν πέλας εἰσίν. ∆ιὸ «αἷμα πίνοντες» προσαγορεύονται Ἑλλήνων φωνῇ καὶ «αἷμα σάκκου», φόνου πλήρης τυγχάνοντες, ὡς εἶναι ἀνθρώπους ἐφορωμένους ὑπὸ Κυρίου παντοκράτορος, τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν προσεληλυθότας τῇ 88 πίστει, μεθ' οὓς δεύτεροι τυγχάνουσιν οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν φυλῶν τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. 3.80 Πάντες οἱ μνημονευθέντες, πρὸ τῆς θείας κλήσεως ἄγριοι τυγχάνοντες, ἐν τοῖς ὁρίοις τῆς ∆αμασκηνῶν γῆς ἐτύγχανον, οὕσπερ ἔτι παιδίον ὢν Ἰησοῦς ἐπρονόμευσεν, λαβὼν «τὰ σκῦλα Σαμαρείας καὶ τὴν δύναμιν ∆αμασκοῦ ἀπέναντι βασιλέως Ἀσσυρίων». 3.81 Ὅρα εἰ ταύτην τὴν νίκην τοῦ νηπίου τοῦ μήπω ἔχοντος ἡλικίαν «καλεῖν πατέρα ἢ μητέρα» αἰνίττεται ἡ κλῆσις τῶν ἀπὸ ἀνατολῆς μάγων ἐλθόντων ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν ἐπὶ τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα προσκυνῆσαι τῷ τεχθέντι ἐκεῖ βασιλεῖ, ποδηγούμενοι ὑπὸ ἀστέρος φανέντος αὐτοῖς, ὡς διαγορεύει τὸ κατὰ Μαθθαῖον Εὐαγγέλιον. 3.82 Zach. IX, 2®4: Τύρος καὶ Σιδών, διότι ἐφρόνησαν σφόδρα. Καὶ ᾠκοδόμησεν Τύρος ὀχυρώματα ἑαυτῇ καὶ ἐθησαύρισεν ἀργύριον ὡς χοῦν καὶ συνήγαγεν χρυσίον ὡς πηλὸν ὁδῶν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο Κύριος κληρονομήσει αὐτὴν καὶ πατάξει εἰς θάλασσαν τὴν δύναμιν αὐτῆς, καὶ αὕτη ἐν πυρὶ καταναλωθήσεται. 3.83 ∆ιὰ τῶν ἐκκειμένων ὀνομάτων ἡ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν κλῆσις σημαίνεται. Πάνυ γὰρ εἰδωλολάτραι τυγχάνουσιν Τύριοι καὶ Σιδώνιοι. Τὸ γὰρ λεγόμενον ἐν ἑνὶ τῶν Ψαλμῶν· «Προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτῷ θυγατέρες Τύρου ἐν δώροις», τὴν κλῆσιν αἰνίττεται τῶν «ἐλπίδα μὴ ἐχόντων, καὶ ἀθέων ἐν κόσμῳ» ἐθνῶν τὴν ἐπιστροφήν. Κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν νόησιν ἐκλημπτέον καὶ τὸ ἐν ἑτέρᾳ ᾠδῇ ἔχον οὕτω· «∆εδοξασμένα ἐλαλήθη περὶ σοῦ, ἡ πόλις τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀλλόφυλοι, καὶ Τύρος καὶ λαὸς Αἰθιόπων, οὗτοι ἐγενήθησαν ἐκεῖ.» Τότε γὰρ τότε γίνονται ἐν τῇ δεδοξασμένῃ Θεοῦ πόλει, ὅταν ἐπιστραφῶσιν ἀφ' ἧς εἶχον ἀσεβείας καὶ δεισιδαιμονίας οἵ τε ἀλλόφυλοι, Τύριοί τε καὶ λαὸς Αἰθιόπων, ἵνα μερὶς καὶ κλῆρος Θεοῦ χρηματίσωσι, ἀποπαθόντες τὴν ἀλλοφύλων πλάνην καὶ τὴν Τυρίων καὶ Αἰθιόπων εἰδωλολατρείαν. 3.84 Πειρατέον εἰς τὰ προκείμενα καὶ τὰ ἐν Εὐαγγελίῳ συμπαραλαβεῖν οὕτως ἔχοντα· «Οὐαί σοι, Χοραζίν, οὐαί σοι, Βηθσαϊδά· ὅτι εἰ ἐν Τύρῳ καὶ Σιδῶνι ἐγένοντο αἱ δυνάμεις, πάλαι ἂν ἐν σάκκῳ καὶ σποδῷ μετενόησαν.» Τῶν γὰρ τεραστίων Ἰησοῦ δυνάμεων ἐπιτελεσθεισῶν, οὐ μετενόησαν οἱ τῆς Χοραζὶν καὶ Βηθσαϊδὰ πολῖται ὄντες Ἰουδαῖοι, μετεγνωκότων ἂν Τυρίων καὶ Σιδωνίων εἰ παρ' αὐτοῖς ἐγεγόνεσαν· πλὴν εἰ καὶ τότε μὴ εἶδον τὰς παραδόξους Ἰησοῦ δυνάμεις, ἀλλ' ὕστερόν ποτε θεασάμενοι αὐτάς, πιστεύσαντες τῷ ἐπιτελέσαντι ἐληλύθασιν εἰς μετάνοιαν. 3.85 Τὴν ἐσομένην γοῦν αὐτῶν κλῆσιν δηλοῖ καὶ ἡ προκειμένη προφητεία οὕτως ἔχουσα· «Τύρος καὶ Σιδὼν διότι ἐφρόνησαν σφόδρα», ἀλαζονευομένη ὡς «οἰκοδομῆσαι ὀχυρώματα» ἃ ἔδοξεν εἶναι ἀκαθαίρετα· σοφιστικοὶ δὲ καὶ ἐριστικοὶ λόγοι τυγχάνουσι ταῦτα, ἐφ' οἷς μέγα φρονοῦσα δυσάλωτος καὶ ἀήττητος ὑπελάμβανεν ὑπάρχειν. Περὶ τῶν τοιούτων φρουρίων σπουδαζομένων τοῖς ἑτεροδόξοις, ὡς καθαιρεθησομένων ὑπὸ τῶν ὑπὸ Θεῷ στρατευομένων, γράφει ὁ Ἀπόστολος· «Τὰ ὅπλα τῆς στρατείας ἡμῶν οὐ σαρκικὰ ἀλλὰ δυνατὰ τῷ Θεῷ, πρὸς καθαίρεσιν ὀχυρωμάτων, λογισμοὺς καθαιροῦντες, καὶ πᾶν ὕψωμα ἐπαιρόμενον κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ.» Οὐ γὰρ
About this text
Didymus the Blind on Zechariah.
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Khazarzar scan
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- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
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